Women urged to wait until 45 for breast cancer screenings
In a controversial shift, a leading US medical association on Tuesday urged women to wait until the age of 45 before getting an annual mammogram to screen for breast cancer.
The American Cancer Society previously recommended women be screened each year from age 40, but has changed its advice because evidence failed to show enough lives are being saved.
And while younger women are being advised to start later, women over 55 are now urged to switch to getting mammograms every two years, instead of annually.
“Since the last American Cancer Society (ACS) breast cancer screening update for average-risk women was published in 2003, new evidence has accumulated from long-term follow-up of randomized controlled trials and observational studies,” said the guidelines, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Women should still have the opportunity to begin annual screenings at 40 if they choose, the guidelines noted.
‘DISAPPOINTING’
Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, described the new guidelines as “disappointing.”
“Although the recommendations are based on scientific studies, most of the studies only look at survival as the only important outcome,” Bernik said.
“They fail to address the fact that women with smaller tumors often need less treatment.”
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women worldwide. It is also the second deadliest form of the disease in women, after lung cancer.
A separate study published in JAMA Oncology, which informed the American Cancer Society guidelines, found that women benefit more from yearly mammograms before they enter menopause.
MENOPAUSE
“Our results suggest that menopausal status may be more important than age when determining screening intervals,” said University of California, Davis researcher Diana Miglioretti.
“They suggest that postmenopausal women may be safely screened every two years. In contrast, premenopausal women who are undergoing screening may want to be screened annually to increase their chances of diagnosing cancer at an early stage.”
According to Susan Boolbol, chief of the division of breast surgery at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, one problem is that many women are not aware of their personal risk.
“Another issue is that the overwhelming majority of women who develop breast cancer are average risk,” said Boolbol, who was not involved in the writing of the guidelines.
“The main message is that women need to discuss these issues with their physicians and determine the best screening schedule for them.”
